Turkey flood deaths rise as fresh fires erupt on Greek island of Evia

Twenty-seven killed in Turkish flash flooding, with southern Europe bracing for more extreme weather

The death toll from flash floods in Turkey has reached 27 and fresh wildfires erupted on the ravaged Greek island of Evia, as southern Europe braces for more extreme weather events caused by human-made climate change.

Record Mediterranean heatwaves fuelled blazes that have devastated parts of Italy, Turkey and Algeria, with Spain and Portugal on high alert, while Turkey’s Black Sea region has been hit by some of the worst floods in living memory.

Turkish emergency workers fought on Friday to relieve the worst-hit areas, with the country’s northern provinces plunged into chaos just as authorities declared the wildfires that had raged through its southern coastal regions for a fortnight, killing eight, under control.

Torrents of water tossed dozens of cars and heaps of debris along streets, bridges were destroyed, roads closed and electricity supplies cut to about 330 villages, with more than 1,700 people evacuated, some with the help of helicopters and boats.

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“This is the worst flood disaster I have seen,” the interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, said after surveying damage that extended across the provinces of Bartın, Kastamonu and Sinop. “The risk that our citizens face is high.”

The agriculture and forestry minister, Bekir Pakdemirli, said the area was facing “a disaster that we had not seen in 50 or 100 years”, with weather forecasters predicting more heavy rain in the hours and days to come.

Twenty-five people have died as a result of floods in Kastamonu and another two died in Sinop, Turkey’s disaster and emergency management authority (AFAD) said. Five bridges collapsed and many others were damaged.